So long marianne in 4/4

[peter danielsen]

I noticed that LC and band played so long marianne i 4/4 on may 23 but later i copenhagen it was back to the old 3/4. I think 4/4 had a fresh sound.

Peter

[tomsakic]

Fresh, yes. But who can pay for this : http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UEfVauADEVU ...

[Steve Wilcox]

At the first 3 concerts I attended they played the new straight 4/4 version with the calypso beat. By Montreal's 3 shows they had returned to the original timing (I fluctuate between whether that is 3/4 or 4/4 with triplets on each quarter note. the drum accent on the original studio recording implies 3/4 but on later live recordings like 1979, I hear 4/4 with the guitars strumming triplets. oh well).

I agree that it had a "fresh" sound and I think it was the drum beat and faster tempo that caused that. But, for me, even after 3 listens, I still couldn't get into the new version; but to each his own.

Jennifer Warne's version of "Bird On A Wire" is in 4/4 where Leonard's is in 6/8. However, I've never found that change to be dramatically noticeable.

Tom, what did you mean by "But who can pay for this"? Do you mean the performance wasn't worth paying for?

[tomsakic]

My English... no, we here have the saying "Who can pay you for this" when something ( = this you're referring to) is extraordinary experience. So, there's nothing so good it can replace that clip and feeling, when whole audience is singing So Long Marianne with Leonard ... whatever "fresh" sound did he tried previously.

[scorp]

My English... no, we here have the saying "Who can pay you for this" when something ( = this you're referring to) is extraordinary experience. So, there's nothing so good it can replace that clip and feeling, when whole audience is singing So Long Marianne with Leonard ... whatever "fresh" sound did he tried previously.

i wish i could have joined in the singing but i was doing the shooting. being there was spellbinding...as indeed glastonbury was, but that song and 'anthem' equalled anything glastonbury gave us. i think as you say with the crowd singing...that made it very special. here is the glastonbury clip in comparison; sorry, i didn't film all of it there.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pvtzO82OeyU

The big chill crowd gave this song more than the glasto crowd did. maybe that's because cohen's fame had spread since then...and because the big chill crowd included cohen fans who had paid for a special day ticket to see him, and so were familiar with th song.

it was a privilege to be there with that crowd, and cohen, and the others on stage.

[Steve Wilcox]

Tom, it makes sense now - and your English is fine, it's just that the expression was a local one, unfamiliar to me.

[mirka]

I like the old version much much better, it's a matter of connecting with the past.
Interesting that this is the song almost always sung by the public at the concerts listening (and singing along to it) in the torrential rain was for me the most memorable moment of the Dublin June 15 concert.

[tomsakic]

Steve, I think there's maybe the same expression in English, like - it's something what money can't buy. But still, I may be wrong